Stanton loved the weekend.

No school, no bullies, no schedule. He had the entire day to do whatever he pleased. And today he planned to go down to the arcade and break every single high score record on every single machine. He had thought about going to the Vanguard base again, but he didn't want to seem like he was being a pest. Besides, he also really wanted to break all of Micah's high scores.

"Meow…"

He turned away from his backpack and towards his desk. Antigone was sitting on top of it, staring at the boy as her tail slowly swayed back and forth. "How?" he asked looking towards the door. How was it that no matter how many times he made sure to lock his door and window she found a way in? And why did she keep coming to his room anyway? He didn't even like her. He didn't even like cats. "Whatever…"

He turned back around and started packing his stuff once more. He was going to be at the arcade for a long time, and snacks there were expensive, so he packed his own. Before he could finish, the door opened and Dipper poked his head in. "Hey there kiddo. Are you ready for today?" he asked, smiling.

Stanton nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm gonna take all the top spots…"

Dipper looked confused, then noticed his bag. "Uh… Stanton. I think you might have forgotten we had something else planned for today. We were doing a family dinner today. You're aunt and cousin are coming over, remember?" he asked.

Stanton looked up wide eyed for a moment. "That's… that's today? Do I have to-"

"Yes," Dipper said sternly. "You have to come. Between me and Renee working late, your aunt and Maggie being… them, we don't have time to get the whole family together. Your aunt has been looking forward to this."

Stanton groaned. "I see Maggie and Aunt Mabel literally every day…" he muttered. Okay, so that wasn't exactly true for Maggie, but it was for his aunt. She was the art teacher at school, so it wasn't like he could avoid her. He still remembered his first day when she basically smothered him in front of the entire class.

"I know kiddo, but it's just for today. You can go to the arcade tomorrow. Now come downstairs and help get ready for later. Pacifica is trying to make a lasagna and I'd feel much more comfortable if you or Renee were there with her…"

He clicked his tongue. "Dad… do you think maybe you should just tell her she's not a good cook. I know it might be rude but… it just seems so much safer. I could tell her if you want."

Dipper sighed. "Stan… look, she's trying okay. It's not exactly like she ever had to cook for herself before now," he said. He then got an idea. "Hey! How about this! You could show her! It could be a mother-son bonding activity for you two!"

"I already cook breakfast with Renee in the mornings…" Stanton said.

"Well Renee doesn't desperately need cooking lessons. Do this son. Do this for me. Please."

Stanton sighed. "Alright," he said before putting his backpack down. Dipper smiled and patted him on the head as he made his way out. The two Pines men made their way downstairs, and both caught a whiff of something from the kitchen. "Uh-oh…"

They made their way in just as Pacifica pulled a tray of… lasagna? At least they thought that's what it was supposed to be. It looked burnt beyond belief. "What uh… what are you up to honey?" Dipper asked, not able to take his eyes off of the burnt dish. He could have sworn something was moving in there.

Pacifica narrowed her eyes. "Do not patronize me Mason. I'm doing my best in here," she said before setting the tray aside. "Guess we're giving that one to the cat…"

"That cat's not gonna eat that," Stanton stated. He may not have liked Antigone, but he had to give her enough credit to think she wasn't dumb enough to think that was edible.

Dipper elbowed him lightly before turning back to his wife. "Look, I know you're doing your best, and we all appreciate and support that. But how Stanton lends you hand? You know he's really good in the kitchen," he offered patting Stanton's shoulder.

Pacifica looked down towards him. "Are you sure he doesn't mind lending me a hand?" He always seemed to either avoid or ignore her, and she didn't want to force him to spend time with her if he didn't really want to.

"We can make spaghetti," Stanton said. That didn't involve the oven… although it did involve boiling water. Still less of a chance of burning the house down he guessed.

Dipper smiled. "See! He wants to. Now, I'm gonna go help Renee straighten up the living room," he said turning and walking out. "Have fun you two!"

After he'd left, Stanton walked over to the kitchen cabinet and started pulling out a few pots and cooking utensils. Pacifica walked over towards him. "Stanton… be honest with me. Did your father ask you to spend time with me?" she asked.

Stanton hummed. "I'm sure he was thinking of that, but this was probably more about your cooking than anything else," he said bluntly. Pacifica might have been stung by the comment, if she didn't know it was pretty accurate.

"To be fair I had chefs to cook for me my whole life until a few months back," she said before talking over to the stove. "Alright then, where do we start?"

Stanton didn't dislike his aunt, or his cousin. In fact, they were one of the handful of people that he considered himself close to. Not as close as his father of course, but Maggie was someone he could occasionally vent to, and his aunt seemed to be able to read him as easily as his father could. Unfortunately Mabel didn't have the same tact as her twin brother. Things like personal space and alone time didn't seem to register to her.

She was also a hugger. "Stanton!" The boy didn't even bother trying to escape as his aunt wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Oh! I'm so happy to see you!"

"You saw me yesterday aunt Mabel…"

"I know, but that was school time. This is family time," she said before turning over towards her brother and Pacifica. "Brother and Sister!" She walked over and pulled the two into a hug.

Dipper smirked. "Nice to see you two Mabel."

Pacifica gave the girl a small hug of her own. She'd pretty much had to get used to Mabel's love of close contact since meeting back up with Dipper. The girl had always been clingy. "He's treating you good right sis? Because if he isn't you just say the word and the Alpha Twin will be there to straighten him out."

"Still with the Alpha Twin stuff," Dipper muttered, rolling his eyes.

The blonde laughed. "Don't worry Maybe. He's been the perfect gentleman."

Mabel nodded. "Good. And hey, my favorite niece!" she said walking over towards Renee. She smiled as Mabel grabbed her up into yet another hug. She honestly kind of liked having Mabel around. All of mother and Remy's relatives had been so formal or cold, but Mabel was always so upbeat and happy to see them. She acted like how Renee always thought a family should.

"Hey auntie," Renee greeted hugging her back. She had pretty much insisted on her calling her that. "And I'm technically your only niece, but good to see you again."

Dipper looked around curiously. "Where's Maggie?"

Mabel looked back over her shoulder and then sighed. "Oh, she probably nodded off in the car again. She was out late last night doing whatever," she explained. "She's been doing that a lot more lately. Oh well! As long as she's not sleeping in class!"

"Uh… do you think maybe you should be concerned about that?" Pacifica asked.

"About what? Her running around at night? Nah, me and Dipper used to do that all the time. She's probably just mixed up in some weird supernatural mystery stuff. You know, teen stuff."

Pacifica looked towards Dipper who just shrugged. "Stanton, you mind going out and waking your cousin up?" Dipper asked.

"Sure," Stanton made his way outside and headed towards his aunt's car. He could already spot Maggie snoozing away in the back. He reached up to open the door and nudge her, when suddenly a voice went off on his head.

"Stop!"

Stanton winced and then frowned. "Arcana? What is it?"

"That girl… I sense a very powerful and dangerous spirit within her."

Stanton tilted his head. "In Maggie? Are you sure? She's my cousin. I've known her for years and I've never seen her have any spirits or anything." As far as he knew Maggie wasn't even interested in anything supernatural.

"That girl is carrying an insanely powerful spirit within her. She is dangerous. Far too dangerous for you to hope to take on as you are now. I suggest running away for now and-"

"We don't have to do that," Stanton said cutting him off. "Even if what you're saying is true, Maggie wouldn't hurt me. She's my cousin."

Stanton suddenly felt a hand on his back, and jumped. He looked over her shoulder and saw Maggie staring down at him. The girl had somehow opened the door within making a sound. The look on her face was… different. She usually either looked cheery or indifferent. But the expression she wore now was something else.

She leaned down and whispered into his ear. "You and I need to have a talk about whatever spirit you're hiding later," she muttered before standing and walking towards the house. Stan looked after her as she yawned and made her way in. "Hey Uncle Dipper. Aunt Ciffy…"

"I told you."

"You don't have to say I told you so…"

"I wanted to."

Stanton walked in after her, and joined everyone in sitting down for dinner. If he was at all distracted or concerned about what happened outside, he didn't show it. And neither did Maggie. They all sat, ate, and talked. Eventually the adults ended up all being left in the kitchen, leaving the kids to sit and talk in the living room.

"Oh my gosh, she's so adorable," Maggie said scratching under Antigone's chin. The cat had seemed to gravitate to her the same way it did Stanton.

Renee laughed. "Wow, she really does seem to have a thing for the Pines kids… wait, are you a Pines or…?" She hadn't had a chance to talk to the girl much, and with not seeing her father around she had guessed maybe there was something there, but hadn't wanted to bring it up before now.

Maggie shrugged. "Yep, I'm a Pines. Dad didn't bother sticking around, so me and Stanton are both members of the deadbeat parent club," she said rubbing her nose against Antigone's.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Renee said, frowning.

"Don't be. Better off without them," Maggie said as he rubbed Antigone's stomach. The cat was practically putty in her hands. "What about you? Is dear rich old dad still trying to pry his way back into your life?"

Renee seemed a little surprised she asked about it so casually, but seeing as how everyone in this family but Dipper seemed to like getting straight to the point, she guessed she shouldn't have been all that surprised. "I haven't heard anything from him in a while. I don't know what Dipper's got on him, but he's backed off since the court case…"

"I didn't like that guy," Stanton said, flipping through the next page of his journal.

Maggie clicked his tongue. "Someone you don't like. What a shocker little cuz," she joked, reaching over and pinching his cheek. Stanton groaned and swatted her hands away.

Renee smiled. "Well, the list is getting a little shorter. You made a pretty good impression on the guys at the Vanguard the other day," she complimented.

Maggie looked towards her little cousin surprised. "Whoa, are you telling me that you actually left the house and socialized? Wow, nice job Renee. I'm so jealous. I've been trying to get him to do that for years," she said, smirking.

"I'm not that bad…" Stanton muttered.

"Yes you are," Maggie and Renee both said, glaring.

Stanton sighed and went back to his book. Sometimes he wished there was another boy in the family. Or maybe this was just a social person thing. Either way, he needed some form of backup. "Meow." Besides the cat.

"Don't worry little cousin. I'm pretty sure between the two of us we'll make a social butterfly out of you yet," Maggie said before jumping up on her feet.

She and Renee both shared a laugh before the latter's phone began ringing. Renee took it out and looked at it before sighing. "Uh, sorry guys. I need to take this. It could be important," she said heading towards the other room.

"No problem. Probably some super important hero stuff. I'll just get Stanny-boy over here to show me his room," she said gesturing towards him.

The blonde nodded before walking out, and Stanton immediately picked up on what his cousin was getting at. This was their chance to talk about… whatever was going on. They headed up to his room, which usually was off limits to everyone but his dad but Maggie was an exception, and closed the door behind them.

"Stanton. I feel like you should know that this girl is much more powerful than you. If she decides to engage you in combat then your chances of escape are slim to none."

"We're not going to fight," Stanton said.

Maggie looked at him confused. "What?"

"I was talking to Arcana."

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh… I'm guessing Arcana is whatever spirit or ghost your carrying around with you then? So it's not possessing you?" she asked. Stanton shook his head. "Well that's good. I thought I was going to have to find a way to roast him without Uncle Dipper and mom noticing."

"I don't like this girl Stanton…"

Maggie leaned up against his desk and crossed her arms. "I have to say I'm a little surprised. I didn't think anyone else in the family had one. Well, I thought uncle Dipper could, but it didn't seem like the type of thing he'd hide," she said. "Does he know?"

Stanton shook his head. "Nobody knows now except you," he said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cards. He held them up towards her. "These just showed up one day and that's when Arcana started talking to me."

Maggie stepped forward and looked over the first two. "The Fool and The Magician? This one is Renee, and that's one of those Vanguard kids from school right?" she asked, tilting her head.

Stanton nodded. "He said each card is based on a bond I form."

She covered her mouth to keep from laughing. "Oh my god, you're so screwed," she said shaking her head. "That's literally the worst possible power you could have."

"I know that…" Stanton said, frowning.

She calmed down a bit. "Oh relax. You have two cards already so you must be doing something right. And at least you're actually trying to figure out social stuff now. Shame it took this to do it, but whatever," she said standing back up. "So, you going to tell anyone else about it?"

Stanton looked over the cards. "Maybe I'll tell dad later. For now I want to try and figure these out." He looked back towards her. "And what about you? Arcana says you have a spirit too."

Maggie shrugged. "Well, you did show me yours, so…" She held her hands up and snapped her fingers. "Will-O." The room suddenly seemed to get much hotter.

Stanton took a step back as pink fire suddenly began shooting up behind Maggie. A tall figure began to form behind her. It was a feminine figure, covered from head to toe in pink knight's armor. There were flames surrounding her entire body, and Stanton could see she was carrying a rapier at her side. "You summoned me?"

Maggie held her hand out. "This is Will-O," she introduced. "She's a fire spirit I met a while back. She helped me out of a tricky situation with a ghost and… well, we've been working together to cut down on our pest problem."

Stanton looked up at her in awe, and then reached back and pulled out his notebook. He sat down and started sketching. "That's amazing. She's actually there. You don't have to use anything to channel her power through? And what do you mean pest problem?"

Maggie held her hand up, and a ball of fire appeared over it. "I guess I could, but I don't really need to," she said, turning it into a circle of flames. "And you know Townsville is a hot bed for supernatural beings. That includes ghosts. There are too many slipping through the cracks for the Vanguard or other heroes around to take care off. So me and Will-O deal with them."

Stanton tilted his head. "You send them back to the ghost zone?"

She bawled her fist up, and the flames dispersed. "I burn them to ashes," she said. "You send them back, they just find their way back to terrorize more people. I'm just getting rid of them."

Stanton hummed. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. "I can see that you're conflicted," Will-O said, getting his attention. "Please rest assured that lady Maggie only purges spirits of ill intent. We are not simply setting aflame any spirits we come across."

"I guess that's okay then…" Stanton muttered. "Can I ask you some questions?"

Maggie held her hands up. "Sorry, we don't have time for one of your all night interviews," she said, snapping again. Will-O suddenly vanished. "We have to get back downstairs in a bit before the others start wondering what's going on. Maybe we can talk tomorrow or something. I want to find out a little more about your Arcana guy anyway."

Stanton nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Maggie headed out, and Stanton was about to follow her, but then the deck began glowing again. He grabbed it out of his pocket and then plucked the next card from it. This one was numbered as 2, and had a picture of Maggie surrounded by pink flames on it.

"The High Priestess…"

"Another card eh? I suppose that isn't surprising. You seemed to already have a bond formed with her. It was just a matter of which card she would appear as. Would you like to test out The High Priestess power now?"

Stanton stared down at it, and then shook his head. "Not now. Maybe after dinner," he said, putting the cards away again. He had to try and process everything he'd just figured out about his cousin. Townsville really was an odd place. Even things he thought he was sure off were surprising him. "Arcana?"

"Yes?"

"Are you… are you an evil spirit?"

"I am neither good nor evil. My only true allegiance lies with the wielder of the deck. What the power of the cards is used for is entirely up to you."

Stanton looked down in thought. He had never really considered what he wanted to do with the power of the cards. Would he join the Vanguard? Or maybe do his own thing like Maggie?

He honestly didn't know. He guessed he'd just have to figure it out as he went.